Chapter 307: Form of a Person
People possessed a distinct form. They stood on two legs, had two arms, and carried a head on a neck placed on shoulders. This appearance generally identified someone as a person.
Bipedalism had been a valuable evolutionary trait, recognized in the ecosystem for a long time like quadrupedalism. The liberation of hands from the constraints of walking allowed for the manifestation of will, reflecting the complex flow of thoughts within the skull.
This development opened a path for communication between the inner and external space, leading the world beyond the limitations of nature to the new supremacy of artifice.
Of course, in Avartin, the form of people was more diverse. Even outside Avartin, considering the randomness of genetics and the aftermath of mutations, the form itself couldn’t be deemed valuable.
However, everyone would agree that there existed a form that could be called a person when overlaying the silhouette of every existing individual or when looking at a shadow cast by the rising sun on a mountain ridge.
From this perspective, the entities pouring down at once, almost like a single organism, had the form of people. Yet they weren’t.
Hegemonia could closely inspect the jumbled mess. Each one's appearance became clear.
Firstly, their sizes were perplexing. The smallest was the size of a finger, while the largest reached tens of meters.
Some had something resembling a head, while others had beaks or snouts instead of necks. Some had bronze wheels where arms should be, and others, with tentacles, could only flail helplessly on the ground.
There were those that moved neither by crawling nor walking due to having numerous arms, and some were just round bodies rolling along.
There were also those with various wings, from bat wings to bird wings, dragonfly wings to mosquito wings, and even those with balanced wings that lacked the strength to spread and had to crawl.
At this time, the players didn’t yet understand the ontological pain of these beings.
Lacking self-awareness and drawn from the Demon World, they existed in the external space without establishing their existence, moving aimlessly, driven only by their desires. They could only imply their suffering to those who observed them in their human form.
Hegemonia responded to Bolt's remark,
-These are devils?
Far away, on another Sky Castle, Bolt unpacked their backpack and began operating some equipment.
Bolt said,
-I'm not sure myself. But I think I've seen similar beings in religious paintings.
-Religious paintings?
As Hegemonia expressed her curiosity, Bolt pointed at one particularly large demon. It had a head resembling a cute songbird and had been sitting on a tall, golden chair since it appeared from the second Sky Castle. It had been grabbing nearby entities with its hands and stuffing them whole into its mouth.
A demon that entered through the beak passed through the body of the new demon in a matter of seconds before plunging down from what was thought to be a chair, but actually a toilet.
Hegemonia couldn't understand what this meant. She thought Nebula probably wouldn't know either.
Bolt said,
-Since the old gods resemble Angels, it's not strange that what they command are Demons.
-Oh, really? Are Angels supposed to command Demons?
-Haven’t you ever read the Bible?
-Who reads that? Chistka, have you read it?
Chistka exposed their overheated barrel to cool down their radiator. Instantly, heated steel and shimmering heat waves scraped the air.
-What? ...Bolt, you probably know what I'm going to say.
Bolt paused their work and replied,
-'Religion is the opiate of the masses'?
-You got it.
-You can't criticize something without reading it.
-Ha, I'm not criticizing the Bible. I'm criticizing religion.
Hegemonia said,
-Anyway! You haven't read it. So what about Angels and Demons? Are they like the ones we know?
Bolt shook their head. Although it was a meaningless gesture for mortals hundreds of meters apart, it wasn’t so among players.
-Probably not. And it’s probably not a coincidence either.
-What do you mean?
-Well...
Hegemonia interrupted,
-Forget it. If it's not the answer we need to smash those things, I'll hear it later.
Bolt silently agreed, feeling like they were beginning to understand how to interact with Hegemonia.
Chistka chuckled and aimed their cannon at the swarming Myriad Demons pouring down.
-This is a real crisis.
The Demons were numerous, so many that the ones pouring out first were being crushed to death by those following. They were spewing from the Sky Castle like a fountain, and just as many were spilling over the edge into space.
Bolt finished their work and put their backpack back on. From the backpack ran a hose, and at the end of the hose was a nozzle that sprayed liquid, connected to a gas igniter. It was a flamethrower.
-Think of their numbers as virtually infinite.
Chistka also closed their radiator and fired their main cannon. The blood mixture exploded from the virtually solid wall of flesh formed by the accumulated Demons, visible even from a distance. But even that was momentary, as more Demons poured into the space again.
Hegemonia sighed,
-Plenty of numbers, but terrible XP efficiency. This won't be easy.
Hegemonia, having just turned a Sky Castle into ruins, stepped forward, leading Kazaha. Following Hegemonia, Salkait and the Gnoll warriors joined.
Hegemonia observed the Demons.
-Ultimately, neither the Demons nor their number matters. Our goal is to reach that first Sky Castle and behead whatever old god is there.
Bolt asked,
-So we just need to break through?
Chistka agreed,
-Hmm, that doesn’t seem simple either. To break through, we first need to form a front line. As it is now, we'll only get surrounded and crushed.
And above in the sky, someone was listening in on the gods' conversation.
-Then, we'll create the front line.
Salkait of the Ears Cut Tribe was the first to react to that voice.
Salkait growled and raised their head,
-How dare you speak from above the Angry One?
-It's been a while, Salkait. But it seems it's not the time for us to aggravate each other.
-...I'll agree this time, Lakrak.
Salkait, the warriors, and the three players looked toward the opposite sky. Another Sky Castle appeared, but it was completely different from those of the old gods. A pinnacle of the Empire's technology wrapped in advanced science and lofty magic, it was the Starkeeper.
The Starkeeper alone was several times larger than Bifnen's first Sky Castle.
And it wasn’t just the Starkeeper. Behind it followed four fleets of aircraft carriers, airborne from the entire Empire. Escort fighter jets, slicing through the clouds, appeared around the carriers.
On the upper deck of the Starkeeper, Apostle Lakrak stood with one foot on the railing, holding a communicator, "Hello, Genius Commander, are you listening?"
From the Itimo Tower, Vasen Lak Orazen replied with a smile. Vasen once thought Lakrak was a difficult person, but now he had let go of that idea.
"Yes, Genius Commander is listening. Dordol next to me is frowning because you call me that.”
"What are you talking about, General?" grumbled Dordol.
Lakrak laughed, "What? That guy is a hard worker, right? Genius is an insult for arrogant people like you."
Vasen laughed again.
Lakrak quickly got to the point. "Our infiltration team has reached the target area. And the situation is...look at the screen."
Vasen was already viewing the feed transmitted from the Starkeeper. Strange monsters were endlessly pouring over the Sky Castles, approaching the three gods.
Vasen said, "Alright, Great Emperor. It doesn't look too bad."
"That's something I often say to my warriors."
Vasen thought Lakrak was poking fun at him. There were times when one must charge in, even in the worst situations. In such moments, a commander had to lie if necessary.
"...Sorry. The guy stretching his legs here shouldn’t say that the situation is the worst for those about to see blood."
Lakrak asked, "Why are you apologizing? Is the situation that bad?"
Vasen often pondered whether he was wrong whenever his impressions of tactics and strategy didn't align with Lakrak's. He had discussed this issue with Dordol, Theone, Mazdari, other gods, and Night Sky Himself. And even Night Sky's answer wasn't entirely satisfactory to Vasen, but he could let it pass.
'After all, that's his nature.'
Vasen said to Lakrak, "...No, it's a situation worth trying. If we aim for a quick battle, it's entirely possible."
"Ah, our Genius Commander thinks too much. Are you tense?"
"It's not just a lunch bet in Go. The fate of Avartin is at stake."
"Just play it like a lunch bet in Go."
"Pardon?"
Lakrak said, "You've never lost a lunch bet in Go, right? Then think of it as if lunch is at stake, not the fate of Avartin. You’ll win like you usually do."
Vasen's mind cleared at this simple wisdom. For a moment, he felt as if he shared Lakrak's perspective. Indeed, the situation no longer looked bad.
"...Alright. Great Emperor, I'll leave you in charge of the on-field command of the Lizardmen warriors and the apostles. I'll move the Starkeeper and the fleet with Dordol."
"Good luck."
Before Vasen could respond, the communication was cut off. Vasen grumbled about Lakrak's hasty nature, but immediately went about his duties.
This operation was one of the most bizarre in Avartin's history. Nearly thirty apostles were stepping into a single battlefield, mainly armed with cold weapons, fighting ancient-style battles.
They would follow Lakrak, maintaining a wedge formation at the front. In the rear, the Empire's proud technology would continue shelling and bombing. Given the enemy's weak air force, the aircraft carriers could fully control the airspace with just half of their fighter jets.
Vasen's goal was to hollow out the enemy's core with firepower and pull the front line forward.
The final breakthrough would be made by the three gods. All in their Hierophany forms, according to Vasen's assessment, they possessed offensive capabilities among the upper levels of godly Hierophany bodies. Were there only one of them, things would be different, but all three together, they were more than sufficient. And most importantly, one of them was the Angry One.
'A being that dares rival Night Sky.'
If everything had been perfectly prepared as in the past, the current situation would have been different, but thinking that way would be no different from wishing for only advantageous battles. A commander must find a way to win even in unfavorable situations.
Vasen spoke into the communicator, "Soldiers, the decisive battle begins."
***
A myth that no one had ever heard or imagined, a blend of old gods and new, ancient Sky Castles and Demons, warriors of the past and cutting-edge weapons, was broadcast live across Avartin. By now, the Empire had an accurate grasp of all situations, and the correct information was being relayed.
Following the speech made by the western continent's Chairman, Sarcho, and the attacks by the old gods through floating crystals, there was a significant resentment against the old gods within the Empire. However, this resentment was close to anxiety, as many didn’ know how to resist the old gods in a world without their own gods.
But as the infiltration forces broadcast through the Starkeeper and the appearances of renowned apostles from various regions became public, the atmosphere shifted. Stories of undefeated histories, impossible victories, and the epics of great heroes were on everyone's lips. Even without their gods, people started to believe that they could win.
Moreover, new findings were announced from the palace and various other channels. The new gods had made arrangements before Falling. The forces attacking the Sky Castles above were part of those arrangements.
Additionally, the Pantheon had successfully resurrected the gods they had defeated. These gods, setting aside past grievances, took up arms against the old gods to protect Avartin, where their followers still resided.
Those who had not yet forgotten their gods clutched the broadcast devices and wept.
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